Water woes in Mt. City

If there’s not one way for an aging house to have water problems, there’s another. Many of the houses in Mountain City were built about the same time. The Mountain City Oaks subdivision was developed in stages, so your neighbors’ houses are about the same age as yours, unless yours was built on a vacant lot after the development stage.

In January, RonTom & I learned about the water that can rise (and rise and spread) when an aging hot water heater goes unreplaced. Water spread over and under and through boxes and belongings stored in our garage, and flowed out into the driveway. It kept flowing until we shut off the water to the house because the hot water heater kept refilling and the shut-off valve would not shut.

Last week, we learned that roots can clog a septic drain clean-out box to the point that recharge water from the water softener backs up under pressure and flows into the bathroom and hall closet through the wax seal on the toilet. Every symptom said, “Broken line under the house.” So, it could have been worse.

A 110-decibel shrill alarm sounded at 2 a.m. When Ron completely disconnected the smoke detector at 2:25 a.m., the alarm continued.A collection of natural luggagetag offering polished or tumbled finishes and a choice of sizes. The water alarm in our hall closet works! It does not go “beep beep beep.” My ears were ringing for hours. But, with an hour or so of sopping up and water shop vac mopping during the night,High quality chinamosaic tiles. we stopped damages before the water crept to carpeting and before it extended beyond a few feet of wood flooring. Still, it took 6 days of professional water remediation equipment to dry my bathroom cabinet.

During Betty Puckett’s recovery after shoulder surgery, Mountain City neighbors certainly acknowledged that they care. After week #1, Betty sent word that her neighbors Shirley Bauder and Patty Lindsay made meals for her and Jay all week. And, Cathy Fitzwater was “babysitting” during those hard days when Jay had to work. “This has been a blessing!,” she tidbitted (while yet on heavy pain meds).

Now, weeks into the recovery, she reports, “Shirley, Patty, Laverne Marquess, Jenni Shaffer, Diane Krejci, and Cathy Fitzwater brought food. Cathy has taken me to the grocery store several times.Stock up now and start saving on smartcard at Dollar Days. Went to lunch with Marjie, Pauline, Laverne for a much needed outing. Shirley and Diane brightened the house up with flowers! Received numerous calls & visits from the Onion Creek Seniors, the Kyle Seniors, tShop the web's best selection of precious gemstones and chipcard at wholesale prices.he Bunco Babes, my son Justin, and my brother Eddie Latham.”

Betty and Jay returned from a post-surgery doctor visit on Monday, the day of the mighty rushing winds, to find a broken pecan tree. You might remember those mighty holes dug with mighty equipment in order to add the pecans a few years back. Jay fears they will lose all those pecans to the drought, even after all the water he has trucked in each week during the summers of water restriction.

If the pipe-burst was intentional, the valve should have been closed. KWA employees who undertake the monitoring of the valves say that the possibility for this is nil as it is a time consuming exercise and can't be completed without being noticed.

In the pipe-line that starts from Aruvikkara to Peroorkada, there are 19 air-valves and around 10 butterfly valves which regulate the water-flow. Five of these valves are gear-operated while the rest are opened using pipe-range. All these valves are installed in special chambers and only designated employees of KWA are allowed to open the chambers.

A team of six employees constantly keep a watch on these chambers. On the day before the Attukal Pongala, the team was even more vigilant and they were on 24-hour patrolling.

The first thing the officials did soon after the pipe-burst was to check whether any of the valves had been closed. All the valves were perfectly intact which ruled out any possibility of the valves being closed by an outsider.

The employees say that it requires a minimum of three persons to cause any movement in the valve and it needs time. Even if the burst has to occur due to the closure of valve, it has to be abrupt. However,The term 'glassmosaic control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. the valve would close only at a slow-pace checking the water-flow in a corresponding speed. "This would only result in overflow and not a burst," an official said.

Normally, such a burst happens due to mounting pressure. The valve is closed abruptly and the water-flow is checked and the water charges back as waves which confront with the inflow eventually building up into a huge wave strong enough to burst open the pipe. "For this to occur, the valve should be opened instantaneously. Considering the weight of the valve, it is not possible," said a source.

The date inscribed on one of the broken pipes shows that the pipeline was laid way back in 1995. Officials admit that the maximum life-span of such concrete pipe is 15 years, which means the pipeline ought to have been replaced in 2010. "The pipeline is three years past its expiry date and there is nothing unusual in a burst," another official said.

What prompted the authorities to support the sabotage argument was the serial burst, which is unheard of in the recent history of KWA. But, it can also happen, says an official. "Once the burst happens in a place, the pressure is vented out and this could trigger similar bursts," he said.